first off... if you can quote the title to the appropriate movie, then you get major kudos :)
i did something i never do today. i sat on the porch and watched it rain. it was cleansing and refreshing and everything you expect a rain shower to be without actually realizing it is. how many times do you enjoy the rain? i mean, if you are at the beach or looking for a reason to have a lazy afternoon nap or experiencing a severe drought, sure the rain is a good thing... but if you are on your way home from a long week's worth of work or carrying in a trunk full of groceries or needing to take the kids to the pool, rain really isn't enjoyable.
i was sitting with an old friend during this shower (a friend who has shared a lifetime of memories with me and has learned to read me like only my mother can... but she is not "old" haha) and we were talking about everything and nothing at the same time... are those not the best conversations ever?!? the comment was made "the rain showers of our lives can be refreshing, too." now, i know i just made mention of the inconveniences of the weathering rain... the precipitation in liquid form that slickens the pavement and saturates the dirt... semi-colon however comma do you see the rainy days of your emotional/mental/spiritual life as inconvenient? do you get out your umbrella and run for shelter with the wicked witch's mindset of melting?
when i was 10, i went to a week long, over-night, diabetes camp. wednesday mid-day *if my memory serves correctly :)* the heavens dumped water on that camp like i had never ever ever seen... huge puddles and mudslides... it was awesomely destructive! the campers and counselors ran for their cabins... and stayed there... for 15 minutes... what fun is it to stay inside all afternoon? none, i will answer that for you-- it is no fun!!! we shed our shoes and ran around with mud between our toes... we made our own slip-n-slides out of earth... we completely ruined our clothes... and had a blast.
it probably wasn't all that fun (we have a tendency to embellish our memories to make them reflect the attitude we want to have when we look back... crazy) but i have fond memories of that day in the rain. actually, a lot of my best memories come from rainy days... camp, ballgames, running around my backyard in my underwear *small child, small neighborhood, no harm done* rain isn't a bad thing when you are little...
you know when it gets to be a bad thing... when it turns from a reliever into a depressor? do you know? when adults ruin it... hahah :) when they tell you you can't play in the rain without getting a cold... when they say you can't swim in the rain *not lightning* when they make you get out your umbrella to walk into walmart... when they run to escape... when rain becomes a punishment......... and then we start to avoid the rain. we worry about our clothes being discolored or our hair being disheveled or something else completely superficial. it becomes the gray days that sadden so many. it creates headaches. it depresses moods across the world.
but rain is a good thing. it is meant to be enjoyed, i think. beyond the environmental reasons for rain completing its cycle in falling to the earth, there is a larger life lesson hidden in the drops of water that polka dot the sidewalks. rain. when has your life been rainy?
it is not human nature to smile when recalling the rainy seasons of our lives. there is no way to fake a joyful heart when giant "rain" drops have doused the small flame on your hope candle. i understand and empathize with those emotions because i have been there. on the other hand, there is today's little life lesson...
life flourishes in the rain. rain enables life to prosper. rain allows the dirt to rinse away. rain- a natural refresher and cleanser. there is this song (don't worry, i'm not going to link it or tell you how it relates to my walk with God) "i'm gon dance in the rain" and then there is the "singin in the rain" saga and there is the "healing rain" song and there are even more positive rain illustrations...
i would imagine the most well known rain song is one we all grow up singing "rain, rain go away." when is the rain supposed to come back? *if you don't say "come again another day" you may need to revisit pre-school* when is "another day" convenient for rain? do we have to be completely dried up before we notice our lack of fresh water? do we need inches of muck and grime clogging our pores before we attempt a bath? (these are our spiritual states here, not the physical... ps) but honestly, if we try to avoid the rain, i don't think we will ever be "clean."
so the next time the rain clouds move in your way, put away your galoshes and yellow rain coat and go dance in the rain. learn from the rain drops... let them wash you off... appreciate the cleansing. dance in the real rain, too :)
7.17.2008
the for real last?
alright... i do believe i am going to be able to get back on track and begin updating more frequently. here's hoping it happens *fingers majorly crossed* but now, what to talk about?!?
while we were on vacation, i noticed a book on one of my grandmother's many bookshelves... a day later, i noticed it again on a coffee table *meaning someone had picked it up to read* and i don't think i would have noticed the sudden jump of a single book if it were not for the title of the book... "the last Christian generation" by josh mcdowell.
i was strongly opposed to the title, and thus, avoided the book. i didn't want to read it or acknowledge that it may have legitimate truth bluntly presented within its pages...
but that didn't mean that we couldn't discuss it among family... this is the beauty of my family- we can act like complete idiots and two seconds later carry on a conversation that is heavier than everything we own. i joined my grandmother, aunts and mother on the porch for breakfast one morning. the book was now outside and had caught every one's attention...
*background* i feel the need to be x-tremely honest with you today :) ^x-treme is more serious than extreme... ps^ there was a time about three years ago that i no longer believed in the label "Christian" because i did not want to be considered part of my body of peers that identified themselves as such- the pretenders, the fakers, the ruiners of all that they claimed to represent. i was going to a "Christian" university with "Christian" friends and my eyes were opened to the world's idea of "Christian." it was a hard time for me... here i was, once so proud to wear the name of Christian... now, i didn't want to be under that label. and it stayed that way for a long time... you know the famous ghandi quote, "i like your Christ, i don't like your Christians," well, that was me to a tee!
aligning myself with shadows pretending to be lights vs. shining without the unified body... quite a dilemma...
through careful reading and desperate searching, a message from my home church, and a chapel speaker *oddness in itself :)* i arrived at a point where it was no longer a choice to wear the label. if i couldn't wear the name "Christian" what hope was there? if i couldn't align myself with the shadows in the light, what good was i? how was i benefiting the kingdom?
i took back the title of "Christian" with the mindset that the label no longer had boundaries and limits that i had grown up believing existed. "Christian" could be how i lived daily regardless of my peer's actions and attitudes. like a blinking bulb on my forehead, my primary identity is "Christian" with the true definition of "Christ-like" as my goal... not the definition of the 21st century world.
*present* which is kinda where josh is coming from. the beliefs of today's youth concerning Christ are vastly different than previous generations... and i agree with that, but i have a serious problem with generalizations and stereotypes (especially when they include me!) staggering statistics, like 50% of churched-youth do not believe that Jesus is the only way to get to heaven, prove shell-shockers... but what kind of church are we talking about? what kind of leadership is responsible for their confusion? but this post isn't about the book, it is about the topic...
what did the people four generations ago think of the "love" generation? was the point made that america had entered a post-Christian era? what about the generations that fought music involvement in worship services? what about the present generations refusal to accept newer praise and worship? when does "Christian" become limited in action or practice? when the Bible is being taught and hearts are being changed, when is that wrong?
not that i don't have reservations about the mass church movements... the huge churches that draw massive numbers on sundays at multiple sites and preach the hard-core gospel but fail to follow up throughout the week... and invest in the lives of the young children and teach them to be solid believers... that is only extending permission to be like the rest of the world... allowing people to wear the name without understanding the true nature and cost of their potential freedom...
and i may be spinning you around in circles, but this is my real point-slash-question-slash-thought... if the ball has truly been dropped (for which there is a strong argument) how is it picked back up? the responsibility has passed from the hands who dropped it and fallen into the hands of a weaker Christian generation. how are we supposed to hold it up... fewer Christians, more people than ever... how? as a member of the generation after "the last generation," i beg you to invest in us. i don't think my generation understands the deep need for positive influences... teachers... leaders... friends... all of whom are firm believers in Jesus Christ.
thank you to my "more mature" influences, teachers, mentors, and *most importantly* friends for your investment into my life... for setting the example of a truly selfless life... for constantly giving even when you couldn't see the return... for helping me understand that my purpose in life exceeds my own dreams. it is my sincere hope and prayer that your example to my generation will refute the claims that you are the last Christian generation.
while we were on vacation, i noticed a book on one of my grandmother's many bookshelves... a day later, i noticed it again on a coffee table *meaning someone had picked it up to read* and i don't think i would have noticed the sudden jump of a single book if it were not for the title of the book... "the last Christian generation" by josh mcdowell.
i was strongly opposed to the title, and thus, avoided the book. i didn't want to read it or acknowledge that it may have legitimate truth bluntly presented within its pages...
but that didn't mean that we couldn't discuss it among family... this is the beauty of my family- we can act like complete idiots and two seconds later carry on a conversation that is heavier than everything we own. i joined my grandmother, aunts and mother on the porch for breakfast one morning. the book was now outside and had caught every one's attention...
*background* i feel the need to be x-tremely honest with you today :) ^x-treme is more serious than extreme... ps^ there was a time about three years ago that i no longer believed in the label "Christian" because i did not want to be considered part of my body of peers that identified themselves as such- the pretenders, the fakers, the ruiners of all that they claimed to represent. i was going to a "Christian" university with "Christian" friends and my eyes were opened to the world's idea of "Christian." it was a hard time for me... here i was, once so proud to wear the name of Christian... now, i didn't want to be under that label. and it stayed that way for a long time... you know the famous ghandi quote, "i like your Christ, i don't like your Christians," well, that was me to a tee!
aligning myself with shadows pretending to be lights vs. shining without the unified body... quite a dilemma...
through careful reading and desperate searching, a message from my home church, and a chapel speaker *oddness in itself :)* i arrived at a point where it was no longer a choice to wear the label. if i couldn't wear the name "Christian" what hope was there? if i couldn't align myself with the shadows in the light, what good was i? how was i benefiting the kingdom?
i took back the title of "Christian" with the mindset that the label no longer had boundaries and limits that i had grown up believing existed. "Christian" could be how i lived daily regardless of my peer's actions and attitudes. like a blinking bulb on my forehead, my primary identity is "Christian" with the true definition of "Christ-like" as my goal... not the definition of the 21st century world.
*present* which is kinda where josh is coming from. the beliefs of today's youth concerning Christ are vastly different than previous generations... and i agree with that, but i have a serious problem with generalizations and stereotypes (especially when they include me!) staggering statistics, like 50% of churched-youth do not believe that Jesus is the only way to get to heaven, prove shell-shockers... but what kind of church are we talking about? what kind of leadership is responsible for their confusion? but this post isn't about the book, it is about the topic...
what did the people four generations ago think of the "love" generation? was the point made that america had entered a post-Christian era? what about the generations that fought music involvement in worship services? what about the present generations refusal to accept newer praise and worship? when does "Christian" become limited in action or practice? when the Bible is being taught and hearts are being changed, when is that wrong?
not that i don't have reservations about the mass church movements... the huge churches that draw massive numbers on sundays at multiple sites and preach the hard-core gospel but fail to follow up throughout the week... and invest in the lives of the young children and teach them to be solid believers... that is only extending permission to be like the rest of the world... allowing people to wear the name without understanding the true nature and cost of their potential freedom...
and i may be spinning you around in circles, but this is my real point-slash-question-slash-thought... if the ball has truly been dropped (for which there is a strong argument) how is it picked back up? the responsibility has passed from the hands who dropped it and fallen into the hands of a weaker Christian generation. how are we supposed to hold it up... fewer Christians, more people than ever... how? as a member of the generation after "the last generation," i beg you to invest in us. i don't think my generation understands the deep need for positive influences... teachers... leaders... friends... all of whom are firm believers in Jesus Christ.
thank you to my "more mature" influences, teachers, mentors, and *most importantly* friends for your investment into my life... for setting the example of a truly selfless life... for constantly giving even when you couldn't see the return... for helping me understand that my purpose in life exceeds my own dreams. it is my sincere hope and prayer that your example to my generation will refute the claims that you are the last Christian generation.
7.08.2008
silver queen or candy?
my family and i froze corn yesterday like our lives depended on it. we put up 40 packs in a little over two hours... the power of twelve hands, yeah baby :) we freeze corn old school style. my grandparents and uncle have a huge farm where they grow all kinds of "real" foods *g-ma swears the stuff in the store isn't real :) and in her defense, there is something special in the food when you know you pulled it... and can still taste the dirt! i am still trying to figure out if that taste comes from the food in question or the smell of my clean, yet dirty, hands :)* we pull and freeze our own corn every year. it is almost ritualistic. we all have our assigned duties and tasks... it is a beautiful process.
maybe i think it is beautiful because i am not "allowed" to go into the corn fields to pull- i am allergic to it... just the silks, not the kernels. *found out at a young age (benadryl, oatmeal bath, and inside the rest of the day) which is good times when you're six... wink, wink* but anyway, mom and g-ma are the pullers... mom is the hacker... the sisters are the silkers... dad is the blancher and keeper of the cooler... and i *stepping into the spotlight* i am the cutter. i won't say that my job is more important than the rest of the team, but...
while we were doing all of that, an older lady came to fish in the catfish pond behind my g-ma's house. she and her son had braved the morning traffic of the city to escape to what was once the country. g-ma and the lady talked like they had known each other forever (g-ma confessed later she couldn't decide if her name was mary or louise, but his name was percy... unless it was quincy) "this is my daughter and her family- they're from out towards charlotte"... "oh, i had been sitting in the nursing home with a lady whose son stays out that way. y'all know him?"... as she proceeded to tell us about him we smiled and said no... she kept talking about her family, and so did g-ma... the lady finally said she had to go see about some fish... and we wished her the best of luck and turned our heads back to the matter at hand... and i smiled
but it made me sad... i wonder if my children *largely hypothetical at this point* will ever experience that. two almost strangers carrying on a genuine conversation because they share so much culturally... freezing corn grown by family on family land... fishing in a pond that has been in the family for generations beyond my great-grandparents. will my *still hypothetical* children have to drive and pay to fish like this lady and her son?
and deep in my heart i know the answers to all of these questions. the new highway is getting ready to come through the land... subdivisions will be claiming the pastures and fields my maternal family once worked and loved. the backdrop of the majority of my childhood memories will be dramatically altered to make life easier for those who work in a very different way for their food...
there is something important that is disappearing... and it isn't just the corn.
maybe i think it is beautiful because i am not "allowed" to go into the corn fields to pull- i am allergic to it... just the silks, not the kernels. *found out at a young age (benadryl, oatmeal bath, and inside the rest of the day) which is good times when you're six... wink, wink* but anyway, mom and g-ma are the pullers... mom is the hacker... the sisters are the silkers... dad is the blancher and keeper of the cooler... and i *stepping into the spotlight* i am the cutter. i won't say that my job is more important than the rest of the team, but...
while we were doing all of that, an older lady came to fish in the catfish pond behind my g-ma's house. she and her son had braved the morning traffic of the city to escape to what was once the country. g-ma and the lady talked like they had known each other forever (g-ma confessed later she couldn't decide if her name was mary or louise, but his name was percy... unless it was quincy) "this is my daughter and her family- they're from out towards charlotte"... "oh, i had been sitting in the nursing home with a lady whose son stays out that way. y'all know him?"... as she proceeded to tell us about him we smiled and said no... she kept talking about her family, and so did g-ma... the lady finally said she had to go see about some fish... and we wished her the best of luck and turned our heads back to the matter at hand... and i smiled
but it made me sad... i wonder if my children *largely hypothetical at this point* will ever experience that. two almost strangers carrying on a genuine conversation because they share so much culturally... freezing corn grown by family on family land... fishing in a pond that has been in the family for generations beyond my great-grandparents. will my *still hypothetical* children have to drive and pay to fish like this lady and her son?
and deep in my heart i know the answers to all of these questions. the new highway is getting ready to come through the land... subdivisions will be claiming the pastures and fields my maternal family once worked and loved. the backdrop of the majority of my childhood memories will be dramatically altered to make life easier for those who work in a very different way for their food...
there is something important that is disappearing... and it isn't just the corn.
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